Students at University of Houston, UT-Austin dismayed by campus crime sprees

The Christmas holidays may have been a nice break for some students in Houston and Austin, but their return back to campus has been a big letdown, KHOU-TV is reporting. In Houston, some UH students students are demanding answers after a rash of break-ins at two dormitories over the winter break, KHOU reports:

When the students came back for their second semester, they quickly realized that some of their belongings had been moved out by thieves. “I came back here, walked into my dorm, noticed my roommate lost his 32-inch TV. I lost a broken Xbox, ironically, and my suitemate lost his TV,” Evan Gouveia, a U of H student, said.

The burglaries happened in the quad area of campus, according to the station. Thieves hit multiple rooms in Taub and Settegast halls, which are supposed to be secured 24 hours a day. The university told KHOU that security typically patrols the buildings on foot at night, except during winter break. Meanwhile, officials at the University of Texas at Austin sent an email to students on Jan. 2, a day after two women were attacked and a homicide was reported on campus, KHOU reports:

Many of the students did not receive the email from university police because they were on winter break when it was sent out, the station said :

In fact, they only learned of the crime spree when they returned to school Tuesday.

Police resent the alert, along with some tips on how to stay safe.

“If they’re in their apartment, make sure that their windows and doors are locked—even while they’re inside of the apartment,” said Officer Darrell Halstead with the University of Texas Police Department.